


Android Anne

by san_shui



Category: Six - Marlow/Moss
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, One Shot, Parrleyn - Freeform, Songfic, parrlyn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-26
Updated: 2020-07-26
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:20:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25533478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/san_shui/pseuds/san_shui
Summary: “I think you’re cute. My name is Anne, and I work at the computer store.”That’s what Anne never says to Cathy, the barista at the coffee shop next door.
Relationships: Anne Boleyn/Catherine Parr
Comments: 3
Kudos: 42





	Android Anne

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by “Android Ashley” from Write Out Loud

_I think you’re cute. My name is Anne, and I work at the computer store._

That’s what Anne never says to Cathy, the barista at the coffee shop next door.

When Anne first sees her, she is immediately struck by her appearance: short, curly brown hair partly sided to the left, bronze skin, gorgeous deep blue eyes, and a beautiful smile that melted her heart. Her voice is smooth and light. And she looks to be in her early 20s. Anne only knows the girl’s name because of the name tag. She hasn’t talked to her yet, instead, she orders her coffee by mobile.

Every time she visits, Anne watches her sadly from the counter where she always picks the wobbly stool. She can change stools if she wants to, but then she wouldn’t have a good view of Cathy.

At some point, Cathy glances over and they make eye contact, and Anne panics. But Cathy only gives a small smile then returns to work. Anne blushes at the action, then gets on her phone as a distraction. A moment later and someone appears by her.

“Here’s your coffee, Ms,” a female voice says.

Anne looks up to see ~~her crush~~ Cathy with her order. She hands Anne her latte.

“T-thanks,” she stutters. Cathy smirks in this hot way then walks away.

Anne face-palms herself, groaning. _Damn it. I just cannot play cool around her!_

Not wanting to be late (or looking like a creep), Anne gets up and heads to work. As she enters the store, rows of electronic devices greet her. Walking towards the back, she brainstorms on how to approach Cathy.

Anne has never been good at socializing. People are just too confusing. So instead, she turns to things that are mechanical. They are easier to understand, to fix when broken, and have no complicated feelings like them humans. With humans, they can go from a happy emotion to an angry one in a second without an explanation, which frustrates Anne to no end.

“Ugh! Why are humans so complicated?” she grumbles. “Alexa, play Despacito,” she commands when she passes the “home smart speaker” aisle.

“Playing Despacito by Luis Fonsi,” the device says, then music emits from it.

“Anne! What did I say about that!” her boss, Catherine, says as she rounds a corner.

Startled, Anne lowers her head. “Sorry,” she replies, then tells Alexa to stop.

Catherine sighs. “I know it’s not my place to ask, but are you okay?”

Anne glances up and meets her boss’s eyes that expresses true concern. No matter how stern Catherine is, deep down she cares for her employees and customers (if they’re not mean). Which makes it hard for Anne to lie to her, besides the fact that she would see through it anyhow.

“There’s someone I like, but I don’t know how to talk to them,” she confesses.

Catherine’s expression softens. “I see no reason not to just go up and say hi.”

“Yeah, but I don’t want to look like an idiot in front of them and screw my chance,” Anne says.

Catherine shakes her head. “Not everyone can be a robot, you know.”

“Yeah, I know . . .” –Anne’s eyes suddenly lit– “Wait, actually, I have an idea. Thanks so much for the talk!” she says, then scurries towards the storage room, leaving a baffle Catherine, who then shrugs and goes back to work.

Why didn’t Anne think of this sooner? The clear and logical solution is to send a robot in her place. A robot modeled after her, except that she can deal with Cathy face to face.

Galvanized, Anne begins her task once her shift is over. Thankfully, she gets her boss’s approval to take home some spare parts or unused devices. Though Anne never tells her why, Catherine doesn’t bother to ask, as long as it isn’t anything bad, which Anne assures it’s not . . . she hopes.

Forty weeks Anne’s been working on the android.

Forty weeks with barely time to sleep or eat.

Forty weeks going to and returning from work exhausted.

Forty weeks without seeing Cathy.

The android is almost done. Her parts are built custom from pieces that Anne combined from both the computer store and whatever she salvaged from her workshop (in her basement). All that’s left is just some last circuits she must complete, but she can’t do it because of a missing component. Unfortunately, she has to order it since she can’t buy it locally. And so, she waits.

The final chip arrives today, so Anne installs it in the vacant port. She solders in the last connection, hits the power switch, and prays there’s not a short.

Android Anne whirs to life, her optic sensors turn Anne’s way, and the girl wonders what they see. The android holds out her hands to accept Anne’s command.

“Hello, my name is Anne and I am at your service,” her robot voice says.

_Ooh, I have made a brand new me!_ Anne excitedly thinks.

Yet the girl can’t help but wish she was her. Imagine it, instructions to tell you what to do, and if you fail, you can’t feel blue. And the best part is that you would be perfect, no mistakes, nothing. That would make life so much less difficult.

Anne checks her invention once more. It’s like looking in a 4D mirror: dark hair up in two space buns, emerald eyes, light skin, and same height and voice. Anne even put on her some old clothes: a green top, jeans, and converse.

Anne sighs. “Well, now you’re good to go. Maybe soon at last I’ll know how to fix the bugs in Anne 1.0,” she murmurs.

It’s time to test Android Anne.

Since the coffee shop and the computer store is almost a block from each other, Anne hangs in the back of the computer store with the controller she used from an old iPhone while Android Anne goes out.

She walks up to the counter, and Anne runs the program “talk to Cathy” and subroutine “order latte.”

Cathy has her back turned, fixing up a drink. When she finishes, she hands it off to a co-worker then goes to the register.

“Hi, what can I get– oh,” Cathy says when she sees Android Anne (but doesn’t know it’s the Android).

Anne calls the function “wave and smile” so it’s not awkward. After all, it’s been forty weeks (which was about nine months) since Cathy’s seen Anne.

“Hey, it’s been awhile. How are you?” Cathy asks.

Anne plays text to voice, “I’m fine.”

Cathy frowns. “You seem different.”

“Oh, I am fine,” Android Anne says with a smile.

“Okay . . . so, same latte?” Cathy guesses, and returns the smile.

Anne is surprised that Cathy remembers her order.

“Yes please,” Android Anne responds.

Cathy writes down her order on the cup, Android Anne pays, and they part ways. That is not the kind of conversation Anne expected. She replays the moment and tries to find what went wrong since Android Anne is made to be perfect.

And suddenly, Anne sees the flaw in her design. If she wrote this program perfectly, she won’t need to make corrections. But if Cathy falls for robot her, she’ll never love her imperfections. With that in mind, Anne aborts the program.

When Android Anne receives her latte, Anne quickly calls her back. Android Anne enters the building through the back way, and Anne meets her outside. Anne starts the shutdown process, but then Android Anne turns to her before the screen goes black, freaking Anne out a bit.

“Human Anne,” she addresses. “I wish I were you. No one can tell you what to do. The things you feel are real and true. Do not envy me. You know all that life can be. I wish I knew how it feels to be so free.”

Anne is stunned speechless. Originally, Anne was going to throw the robot into the dumpster after she was shut down, but now she’s not sure. She stares back at the machine, who’s currently standing with her head bowed and eyes closed.

This whole day is a mess.

Thinking over Android Anne’s words, Anne suddenly has an idea for her. To save time of struggling, Anne turns her back on and orders her to get inside the car. When they arrive home, Anne redesigns her completely.

A week or so later, she finishes. Stepping back, she grins in satisfaction at her improved invention. What stands before the girl is now an entirely new android of her own person: same skin tone, but bright blue eyes, wavy, light brown hair, a few inches taller, and a different female voice. Instead of a green shirt, Anne bought a cute white top and a black jacket. She also modified her so that she can feel some emotion, but not where it controls her completely. Besides that, the android should feel more like a human. Anne turns her on and her eyes glow alive.

“Hello, my name is Genesis, and I am at your service,” she says.

“Genesis, my only instructions for you is to live freely,” Anne orders, then places the controller in the android’s hands.

~~The android~~ Genesis stares at, face unreadable, then clutches the phones.

“Thank you. I am eternally in your debt,” she says.

Anne smiles then hands her a packed bag of essentials for her parts if anything were to happen, though she added her contact in the phone in case as well. She then opens her garage door and gestures for her to leave. Genesis walks out, but pauses. She glances back at Anne and smiles.

”May you do well to achieve your goal, Anne,” she says and walks away.

Anne watches until the figure is out of sight. She then furrows her brows at her words. Numbly, she turns and looks around the room full of robotic parts, tools, and blueprints. Her whole life is facing her, yet she doesn’t feel like it’s hers. Not all the way at least. Guess technology can’t solve everything.

Anne thinks about how to approach Cathy next time, but she shakes those ideas away. If she’s going to do this, she’s going to do it as a human. She’s done shying away. She glimpses back outside and notices that it’s still daylight out. She’s pretty sure Cathy’s shift isn’t over until later.

Impulsively, Anne grabs her keys and sprints out of the garage and hops into her car. Gunning the engine, she peels onto the road with one destination in mind.

When she’s there, she parks her car in a spot then walks to the entrance. Her heart is rapidly beating while her brain is playing all the possibilities of how this could go wrong. But she shakes her head clear as she enters.

The place isn’t crowded, so that eased her anxiety. She then sees Cathy at the register. Anne approaches the counter, and she looks her way.

“I think you’re cute. My name is Anne, and I work at the computer store,” she says.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry is this felt rushed or for any mistakes! As always stay well! <3


End file.
